Chapter 106: Choice (3)
TL/ED – Miso
Until now, my relationship with the other members of Crimson Circle had been running in parallel lines.
There are two reasons for this. The first is incompetence.
Of course, it’s true that I extracted information from the ones managing the warehouse, but even these guys, who meet with the most members, were seriously cut off from the core information.
When I tried to dig up information about the most important, the Three Evils, I got answers like this:
“Um, I heard the Three Evils are terrifying beings even among Great Worlds.”
“Wait, isn’t it not yet confirmed that the Three Evils are Great Worlds?”
“They must be Great Worlds. I mean, just look at the ones searching for them…”
They had heard of them but didn’t know the details, something like that.
If even these people, who are well-connected in the Lower Tier, only know this much, then it’s obvious how little the other members know. The second reason is a physiological disgust.
For example, in missions involving cleaning up the underworld, I could always leave behind time bombs.
In this case, I received a lot of help from Dersia.
“Eek, eek, urgh, guk…”
“…Are you sure this is really okay?”
[Are you following the map exactly?]
“Yes. I fed them the medicine you sent and followed the manual.”
[Then there is no problem. If they happen to die, just replace them with another. They’re replaceable anyway.]
“That may be true, but…”
After cleaning up an organization, I performed various procedures according to the map of the crow Dersia, stabbing the heads of the bosses who would take over once the organization disappeared.
Most of it was related to surveillance. If these guys ever made contact with Crimson Circle and had any kind of exchange, that fact would immediately be delivered to the Imperial Family.
In addition, I sorted out all the detailed information on the back alleys of the city and the structure of power and sent it all to Dersia.
Every underworld organization I touched, although nominally subcontracted by Crimson Circle, in reality became spies unknowingly transmitting their information and movements to the Empire.
So, I was able to do it without a shred of guilt.
Even if the Knights Order may look unfavorably upon me taking over the underworld, everything I did was for the Empire.
However.
“Undercurrent nim, by the way, aren’t you going to kidnap breeding stallions? I think that kind of mission suits your ability the best…”
“I’m not doing that.”
Not every mission was like that.
Every time I opened the Mission Book, all the horrors happening beneath the surface by Crimson Circle were laid bare.
Decay said they wouldn’t directly invade the Empire. Having joined Crimson Circle myself, I found that to be closer to the truth, but indirectly, countless atrocities could still be committed.
Of course, I have no intention of stopping it. I’m already doing my best, and I don’t have the capacity to deal with problems beyond my reach. Trying to take on even that would be something only ascetics like Sharmia would think of doing.
Even so, it was true that my brow furrowed every time I saw the list of completed missions.
These reasons made me avoid contact with them.
“Ha, Undercurrent nim! A reply came!”
“What did it say?”
“They seem really fired up! They want to meet this evening!”
Still, now I had to make contact.
As I was putting the mask on my face, a question suddenly arose.
‘Wasn’t it said to be the largest assassination group?’
Just what kind of guys are they?
If they had carried out missions with Lump, hmm.
They might be dangerous. Thinking I should mentally prepare myself, I stood up from my seat.
*
–Bang!
A slender man with scars all over his body slammed the table.
“What the hell is that bastard doing!”
“…”
“…”
The round table, with over ten people sitting around it, shook.
The setting sun crept in through the window, but no one dared blink an eye.
Piercing Blood ground his teeth and made a sound boiling from his throat as he looked around at them.
“Still, still no information? His World?”
“…We don’t know. Some Keepers who spied on their methods said they couldn’t find any connection other than the fact that it might be a Great World.”
“Did you do any background checks?”
“Other than that he caught the attention of an Upper Tier member, there’s nothing…”
“What the hell is that bastard…! Some guy crawled in from nowhere is muddying the waters!”
Grit– Piercing Blood’s teeth gnashed together.
Crimson Circle, even among that, the Lower Tier has its own laws.
And those laws are nothing other than the logic of power.
The World-Sealing Pills were limited, and the longer a powerful being had endured, the more they consumed. In other words, no matter how strong one’s true power was, since one had to consume that much of the World-Sealing Pills every time they moved, it wasn’t cost-effective to act alone.
In the end, even those who couldn’t trust each other banded together under the instinct to survive. They shared just enough of the World-Sealing Pills to keep each other alive. If anyone became greedy beyond that, the damage would inevitably fall on everyone, so those who caused unnecessary conflict were expelled…
A desperate struggle by those who united to survive. But, surprisingly, they were sailing smoothly under the grand goal of survival.
That is, until the giant mudfish arrived.
“Just how massive must his World be to devour all those World-Sealing Pills and still go nuts like this??”
“Perhaps he’s consuming over a hundred a day.”
“Who doesn’t know that? Because of that bastard, twenty people have already been crushed by their Burden!”
One thousand World-Sealing Pills are to be divided among ten people.
However, this man took on all the dangerous missions no one else wanted, hoarding a thousand for himself alone.
Naturally, the World-Sealing Pills allocated to the remaining missions decreased, and their difficulty increased.
Though it wasn’t a direct blow, since the pie had gotten smaller, someone had to starve. Piercing Blood’s faction suffered a proportional hit.
“Tsk, and in the middle of this, he comes to see us…”
“Yes. He must have some hidden agenda…”
“Shut the hell up, you dumb bastard. You’ve been spouting nothing but obvious crap since earlier!”
As Piercing Blood suppressed his anger and silenced the other member, someone knocked on the door of the tower.
“Undercurrent has arrived.”
“…Tell him to come up.”
Piercing Blood erased the rage from his face.
No matter how much disruption he had caused, considering the achievements Undercurrent had accomplished almost single-handedly with only a small Keeper, he couldn’t just let his emotions take over.
‘Fine, if I can make use of him now, somehow…’
His faction wasn’t the only one that had suffered from Undercurrent’s antics.
If Undercurrent had chosen to come here when the other factions had also suffered heavy losses, then just that fact alone could greatly expand their territory.
The only way to forget a loss is to gain something greater.
Thinking that, he straightened up, just as the door opened.
“Hmm.”
–Screech, the sliding door opened, and the man who had caused them so much grief appeared.
A man in a robe wearing a mask.
An ordinary adult male with no distinct features except the mask, not particularly dangerous-looking.
Everyone’s gaze immediately filled with doubt.
‘This guy?’
‘That’s him?’
“There are quite a few people here.”
With those words, Undercurrent ignored the piercing stares directed at him and sat at the edge of the round table.
Piercing Blood didn’t let his guard down. No, if anything, he grew more tense.
From his experience, those who dressed in a flamboyant or menacing way were usually disguising their own fear.
To appear ordinary in a situation where danger should be emphasized, this was the sign of true confidence.
“Nice to meet you, Undercurrent. This is our first time meeting, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Piercing Blood cautiously extended the greeting with a gentle smile.
“Piercing Blood. My World is Torrential Rain.”
“To… Torrential Rain?”
“Hmm, seems hard to believe. But it’s true.”
Piercing Blood slightly puffed out his chest in pride.
It was a damn annoying World, but in situations like this, it served him well. The word “Torrential Rain” usually made people associate it with a Great World.
Though in truth, it wasn’t. Coughing lightly, Undercurrent slowly nodded and replied.
“Undercurrent. I don’t know my World.”
“…What?”
Piercing Blood furrowed his brow.
“You don’t know? Your own World?”
“Right. I don’t know. Hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”
“No, that…”
His expression twisted into disgust.
A bird knows it flies in the sky, a fish knows it swims in water.
Because it’s flying, and because it’s swimming. Not knowing one’s own World simply shouldn’t be possible.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Well, you don’t have to.”
From Undercurrent’s words, Piercing Blood sensed a kind of lightness that suggested he didn’t care how things turned out, and he slightly clenched his fist. But on second thought, it was no different than revealing a weakness.
Saying nothing at all meant that the moment it was exposed, his World could be immediately broken. Piercing Blood chuckled and nodded.
“…Fine, I’ll believe you. If we can’t trust our comrades, then what can we trust?”
“Comrades?”
“Aren’t we? I thought you came here because you wanted to work with us.”
“Hmm, that’s true. Since we can help each other.”
It was a meaningful statement. Piercing Blood furrowed his brows for a moment, then pushed a piece of paper toward him.
“You always take on missions that can be handled solo. But if you work with us, you could take on missions on a much bigger scale.”
This mission had been carefully selected ever since Undercurrent announced his intention to make contact.
It wasn’t a big deal, but it was a sweet mission with a big reward. Just secretly purchasing natural-born wizards from the underworld market. A mission anyone would want, and one that would yield plenty of World-Sealing Pills.
Piercing Blood explained as he watched Undercurrent read the mission.
“Of course, this time it’s a very easy mission. I already know your abilities, but we need to see exactly what you’re capable of through this.”
“…Hmm.”
“I get it. If we split it, your share won’t be that much. But this time, it’s a very simple… right, think of it as a simple test. From next time on, we’ll be talking about missions involving tens of thousands of units…”
“Wait. I have a question.”
Undercurrent covered the paper and looked Piercing Blood straight in the eyes.
“Can you clear out the others? It’s not something I want others to hear.”
“…!”
At those words, the surrounding members jumped up and glared at Undercurrent.
It was nearly at the level of saying, ‘I want to assassinate you, but the others are in the way, so get rid of them.’
But Piercing Blood laughed heartily and waved his hand.
“Oh, I see, you just want to have a one-on-one talk. That’s no problem. All of you, leave.”
“B-But, Group Leader nim…”
“-Do I have to say it twice?”
Under Piercing Blood’s sharp and chilling gaze, the others lowered their heads and left, not knowing what to do.
Undercurrent whistled as he watched the scene.
“Hmm, I said it, but I didn’t think you’d actually go along with it.”
“If one fears being alone with someone, how could one earn trust? And-”
Drip. A drop of water fell from the tower ceiling, wetting the floor.
“I’m more comfortable being alone too. This way, I don’t have to kill loyal members in an emergency.”
Piercing Blood smiled lightly and raised the cup in front of him.
It was meant as a veiled threat, but Undercurrent continued talking as if nothing had happened.
“I see. Then I’ll get straight to the point. Do you know someone named Lump? According to the mission records, it says you worked with him.”
“…Lump?”
At the mention of a name he hadn’t heard in a while, Piercing Blood frowned.
“He was completely insane. Why do you ask? No, where did you hear about him?”
“Is it okay to say such things? He’s in the Upper Tier now.”
“Hmph, Upper Tier bastards just make World-Sealing Pills, they’re not our superiors. They’re even crazier than we are. They’re not in their right minds. Even if I slander them to their faces, as long as they deem me useful, they won’t do a damn thing.”
“I’m just interested in Lump’s activities.”
“Hmm, I don’t know why you’d be curious about that, but…”
Piercing Blood continued, somewhat uncomfortably.
“He wasn’t right in the head from the moment he joined. He worked without receiving any World-Sealing Pills.”
“What?”
“Said he didn’t need them. I don’t know why. Worked out for me though, so I tried to use him as much as I could until he was about to be crushed by his Burden. But then suddenly, he caught the attention of the Upper Tier.”
“Is that true? He didn’t take the World-Sealing Pills?”
“Yeah. It’s not like he overcame the Burden, he was clearly in pain, but still refused to take them.”
“…”
Undercurrent began to seriously ponder something.
“So, why are you asking? Do you have a grudge against Lump? Then again, he might have already made several people into Fallen…”
“Not really. My goal is to reach the Upper Tier, so I just wanted to know more about someone who actually climbed from the Lower Tier.”
“W-What? Upper Tier?”
“Yeah.”
Piercing Blood looked at Undercurrent with a baffled expression.
“U-Uahahahahaha! Haha, hahahaha!!”
And then burst into a roaring laugh.
Watching him, Undercurrent tilted his head and asked again.
“Why are you laughing?”
“What? You’re saying you want to become Upper Tier? Were you seriously acting with that as your goal?”
“Yeah.”
“Ha, haha… You bastard. Do you not even know why you’re here? You’ve already been here for a year, and you still haven’t realized it?”
“…?”
“We’re all just dogs raised by those insane Upper Tier bastards. They threw us, once human, into this place, and now they feed us dog food we can’t live without if we don’t eat it!”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
Undercurrent nodded calmly.
“That’s why I want to be the master, not the dog. What’s so strange about thinking that way?”
“…”
Piercing Blood frowned as he looked at Undercurrent.
He knew the guy wasn’t normal, but he didn’t expect it to be this bad.
“It’s not impossible, right? Even Lump climbed up like that.”
“…Let me tell you something you don’t know.”
Half with pity for the lunatic, half with scorn for having feared someone like this, he informed him.
“Do you know why this book that gives out missions is called the Mission Book?”
“No idea.”
“It’s a fact most of the members, who idolize and worship the Upper Tier, don’t even know. But originally, the Upper Tier were nothing more than a bunch of deranged fanatics.”
“…What?”
“Have you ever heard of the First Mage? The one said to have created magic first. The one who supposedly reached the Celestial Realm. You know about him?”
“I’ve heard of him.”
Undercurrent glanced at his robe. Piercing Blood, not noticing, sighed and continued.
“Well, I figured you’d at least have heard of him. He shows up in fairy tales from time to time. This Crimson Circle, its name is taken from the villains in one of those stories. Think about it. What kind of place names itself after fairy tale villains?”
“No idea.”
“They’re people who believe that fairy tale is a true story.”
“…”
“Actually, it’s worse than that. The Upper Tier believe the First Mage actually Fell. They think his Celestial Realm is a highly concealed Abyss Realm, and that he foretold the distant future to save the world, they actually believe that.”
“Hmm, is there no chance that’s true?”
“No. It’s bullshit. The Upper Tier are just mental cases, powerful lunatics stuck in an infantile mental state who seriously believe in a made-up story. But listen. In the original fairy tale they base everything on, there were seven Crimson Circle members, you know that?”
Bang, bang. Piercing Blood banged the table in frustration.
“That’s why they split us into Upper and Lower Tiers. Just to stick to the lore from their damn story! Do you get what that means?”
“…How many Upper Tier members are there right now?”
“So you do know. There are seven.”
Even through the mask, Piercing Blood could tell Undercurrent’s expression had darkened, and he drove the nail in.
“Lump was lucky. He moved up back when there were only six. You? You can’t.”
It was just a matter of timing.
Undercurrent, was too late.